Almost 500,000 Unique Views Since 2009! The Original New York Blockchain Technology and Investigative Lawyer And Advisor, Also A Co-Inventor of Patented Blockchain Technology. Original research and analysis, which you can use if you credit me for it. Site not intended for anyone outside United States; visit http://www.NYBusinessCounsel.com instead. All inquiries CONFIDENTIAL. COPYRIGHT 2009-2019 ERIC DIXON. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

More From Eric Dixon at http://www.NYBusinessCounsel.com

Support Independent Investigations With Bitcoin:

Send Bitcoin Here: 171GMeYRD7CaY6tkXs8dSTjLbAtFazxhVL

Top 50 Twitter Rank of Worldwide Startup Advisors For Much of 2014. Go to my professional site for solutions to your legal, business and strategic problems. The only lawyer who is a co-inventor of multiple, allowed-for-grant patents on blockchain technology!!! Blockchain and Digital Currency Protocol Development --

Top Strategic Judgment -- When You Need A Fixer -- Explore Information Protection and Cryptographic Security -- MUST-WIN: JUST DON'T LOSE -- SURVIVE!: Under Investigation? Being Sued? Handling Extreme Stress -- Corporate Issues -- Startup Issues -- Investor Issues -- Contracts To Meet Your Needs -- Opposition Research -- Intellectual Property, Media and Reputation Issues -- Independent, top-notch legal, strategic and personal advice -- Extensive ghostwriting, speechwriting, book writing, issue research, press and crisis management services.Listed by American Bar Association's Law Bloggers (Blawgers). Contact EDixon@NYBusinessCounsel.com. European Union audiences: This site uses a third party site administrator which may use cookies but this site is intended for AMERICAN clients and prospective clients only!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Chris Christie and the Honest Services Statute; Charlie Rangel too

The Corzine campaign has a new ad out that criticizes Chris Christie for imposing one set of rules on others -- while he was chief federal law enforcement officer of New Jersey - while allegedly playing by a different set. This is no doubt inspired by the recent, undisclosed $46,000 loan to his subordinate and the subsequent failure to either disclose said loan on state and federal disclosure forms or report the interest on said loan on state and federal tax returns.

Compare the Christie transgressions with:

(1) the failure to pay taxes on approximately $16,000 by former Guttenberg mayor Peter LaVilla, who pled guilty in 2003 to failure to file a tax return and received a sentence of four years' probation.

and

(2) the "honest services" crime of former Mercer County public official and former prosecutor Harry Parkin, who received a 90-month jail sentence for a variety of corrupt acts. (Parkin went to trial, and acted as his own lawyer.)

Parkin's indictment (handed down during Christie's tenure) describes the public's right to, and the official's duty of, "honest services." (See paragraph 11 for yourselves, courtesy of the Justice Department's website.) It reads, in relevant part:

"As a public official of Mercer County, defendant HARRY G. PARKIN owed Mercer County and its citizens and the [Mercer County Improvement Authority] a duty to, among other things . . .

(B) disclose personal financial interests in official matters over which [the defendant]... exercised influence, authority and discretion in favor of those interests, and to not affirmatively conceal such material information."

(One note of interest: Remember that Parkin was indicted for and convicted of several crimes, which were in connection with his holding positions for which he received significant salaries from government agencies. Perhaps a crucial difference, beyond party affiliation, is that with Christie, no public monies appear to be involved.)

Just apply this language to Christie and consider the ramifications of applying the same standard. Whether that standard ought to be applied, to anyone, is a different issue. However, these cases -- and there are others to be sure -- illustrate why Corzine's campaign thinks there are legs to this issue/story.

AND --- lest we forget -- the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the esteemed Charles Rangel, has a similar and more grave tax problem and failure-to-disclose problem. There are already (on Thursday 9/3/09) editorials by such esteemed publications as the Washington Post for Rangel to step down from his committee chairmanship. I agree wholeheartedly.

How would Rangel fare under an obnoxious United States attorney? Please note: I am not criticizing Rangel, this is a civil matter which undermines his credibility to be on the Ways and Means Committee but this is not a criminal matter...I mean, let's get real. This is more of a criticism of the prosecutorial overreaching to "go after" certain people under any pretense available, and occasionally someone who is a target is stupid enough -- and that is the correct phrase -- to actually have done something wrong.

Rangel should be distinguished from the nut-job theorists and their followers, like the actor Wesley Snipes, who think taxes are somehow unconstitutional. But rules are rules and at some point there is no excuse for a failure to disclose, or failure to pay; rather, one can presume these people are just playing a game of "gotcha" where they wait to get caught and then profess contrition. Rangel and Christie appear to be peas of the same pod on this issue.

Dixon Investigation Gets Powerful New Jersey Politicians To Run From Camera. Watch this report to see one mayor run from cameras while another nationally-prominent governor gets quiet. Political big shots are no match for Eric Dixon's methodical investigations and confrontational, adversarial approach.